by Vi Carter
I’m ready to interject, but Jessie rolls her eyes. “No, I said, I think I could do it. That’s when the agent Cece did it on TV.” She shrugs. “It just looked easy.”
“I could try,” Hannah says while chewing her lip.
“No one is picking locks. I just need the two of you to act normal and stay out of trouble.”
“Where exactly is she being held?” Hannah’s earlier feistiness returns.
I run a hand across my face. It felt like they just didn’t get it. So I had to go for option B. I didn’t want to, but we were going around in circles and I didn’t have time.
“Sit down!” I bark and Hannah moves backways and lands right beside Jessie.
“Ella broke the rules, so she is in serious trouble. This isn’t that she might get a slap on the wrist. This is her life we are talking about.” I’m firm with my words.
Two sets of eyes fill with tears and I take my tone down a bit. “But don’t worry, I will get her out.”
Hannah nods and tears fall.
“She will be okay.” I try to reassure them.
It works as Hannah smiles. I don’t want her smiling.
“But this is serious.” I reinforce and her smile wavers.
I’m thinking about locking both of them in their room. “Now, if I can at some stage. I will try to let you see her. But right now, you both need to stay in your rooms.” They would never see her down there, but they didn’t need to know that. I just need to give them something to hold on to.
I glance from one watery face to the other. I had never felt so out of my comfort zone. As they stare up at me like I hold all the answers.
“You really hurt her.” Hannah states while looking at me from the corner of her eye.
I shift. “I know.”
She sniffles. “Like, really hurt her.” Hannah adds.
“He gets it.” Jessie nudges her and I suppress a smile.
I retrieve a box of tissue from one of the reading tables and offer them one each. Hannah takes three while Jessie takes one. I have to stand while both girls clean their tears.
“Okay, you need to go to your rooms and I’ll try to figure out a solution.” That weight on my shoulders feels heavy.
Both girls rise and Hannah pauses in front of me, no doubt ready to deliver a warning.
“I will have her back in no time,” I say and that stops Hannah from speaking. Jessie shoves her out of the room. I didn’t believe they would stay put, but right now they were the least of my worries.
I leave the sitting room and make my way into the basement that holds the archives to our history. I should have done this from the start. Well before the ladies arrived. Knowledge could be powerful and I hoped I would find something down here. I pass the glass box; the room has been set up again for a meeting. I wasn’t aware of one happening soon. I pray it isn’t a vote on Ella’s punishment. I glance at the box again and picture Ella strapped to the chair.
Over my dead body.
A small voice in my head tells me that’s exactly what it might take. As I pass the wall that divides this side of the house from the other side where Ella is, I’m tempted to touch it and tell her to hold on. I tighten my fists as the room that I hope holds answers to get me out of this mess, comes into view.
The room looks the same as it always does. Rows and rows of books coat the top half of the wall and below them is filled with rows of filing cabinets. The room holds only one large table that has a reading lamp on it. It’s normally free of anything else, but right now a red leather book sits in the center. I step back out of the room and listen, but no one is here.
Someone had been. I close the door behind me and sit down, picking up the book. I open the book where the red ribbon lies; there is the smallest of stars on the left of the page. I glance up again before I start to read.
“The power that is invested in the leaders is divided equally between a husband and wife. No one person can have full control unless–a spouse is deceased. Remarriage is highly recommended at this stage.
-If a spouse suffers a brain injury or a psychological breakdown, a divorce and remarriage is highly recommended at this stage.
I read on.
- If either husband or wife receives an injury that has them hospitalized for longer than three days, they may nominate someone in their place.
The list goes on, but I go back up to the star. Someone had left this book out for me to find. They had starred it at this particular line. I close my eyes. What did it mean? My mother had fifty percent power, but she had a breakdown so my father should have remarried. But he didn’t, so ….
I stand up, feeling irritated. Is it that he didn’t remarry something that I can use? It doesn’t say it makes him powerless, it just states that he would be recommended to remarry. But he doesn’t have to.
What if my mother never had a breakdown? She would still hold fifty percent power. But she did nearly kill Henry. I had seen her beat him. She had killed Sorcha, and Henry said they taunted him and killed Declan.
I return to the book and flick through it, but nothing else stands out. As I flick again, a piece of paper sticks out along the edge. I’m careful not to lose the placement as I open the page. My heart pangs as another small star is beside a line.
If a male individual of the community commits sodomy, the penalty is death by hanging.
I read the line three times and it’s still the same. The rules were barbaric and never updated over the centuries, but they still stood.
So Henry should be hung for loving Declan. It is so wrong. But I try to push the inhumane aspect of the rule aside and focus on the knowledge that I could demand Henry be hung for being gay. My father already knows this.
A second thought starts to drip in my mind. What if my father left the book here to send me on a wild goose chase? I slam the book closed, my irritation growing. I think about breaking down the door and getting Ella out. But then what? We run and can never settle. I sit back down with the book and try to find something that can save us.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
ELLA
The tears finally dry on my cheeks and all I want to do is scrub my face raw. The bed creaks under my weight as I draw my knees up to my chest. I rest my cheek against my knee and close my eyes. I pretend I’m at home, surrounded by all the things that I had taken for granted. The small beaded bag that held my collection of cosmetic jewelry, that I could only wear in the comfort of my room. The box under my bed where I kept my journal of all the places I would visit when I was married. A tear leaks from the corner of my eye. My mother’s scones and creamed coffee. My mouth waters now and my stomach growls. I sit up and wrap my hands tighter around my stomach. I focus on Lucas’s words.
“A beast who has fallen in love with his beauty.”
I can hear movement again and scoot off the bed. My heart pounds, it can’t be Lucas; he left a short while ago. He couldn’t possibly be back so quick. Footsteps continue and I half approach the door, weary, until George’s smiling face appears between the bars.
“Lady Ella.” His soft voice has me forcing a smile. He raises a bundle of things for me to see. It’s what I requested Lucas get for me. I’m disappointed that Lucas didn’t bring them.
“I will push each item through.” It takes us a bit of time, but we manage to get the clothing and books through the bars. The blanket is the hardest, but with a bit of pulling and back and forth it finally fits through. The only thing that won’t fit is the apple.
“It’s okay, George,” I say.
He shakes his head. “Where there is a will, there is a way. I’ll be back in a moment.”
He disappears and I push my face against the bars, looking out of the corner of my eye I can see his back. “Be careful,” I call. I didn’t even want the apple or any of these things. It was just to keep Lucas busy, not get anyone into trouble. God only knows what would happen if poor George gets caught.
I step back from the door and when I face the bed, my throat tight
ens again and I busy myself stacking the books on the bedside table before spreading the blanket out across the bed. A cardigan that isn’t mine doesn’t offer much warmth, but I still wrap it around my cold shoulders.
The sound of footsteps again has me moving close to the door. It’s George. He holds up the apple, a half in each hand.
“The wonders of a knife, Lady Ella.” He easily passes it through the bars. I accept.
“Thank you so much.” I clutch the apple and there is a moment of hesitation in his eyes.
“Master Lucas will be here later.”
I want him here now. I nod. “Thank you.”
He still hesitates. “Can I get you anything else?”
“A key would be nice.” He smiles. “One that would fit a keyhole like the one on this door.”
His smile wobbles. “I’m sure Master Lucas will have you released in no time.” My stomach twists. I don’t think George is sure at all.
“Can I get you anything else besides a key?”
I force a smile. “No thanks. But thank you for this George.” I hold up the apple.
He bobs his head before finally stepping away from the door. “You are very welcome, Lady Ella.”
I listen until I hear a door close in the distance. My stomach growls and I remember I haven’t eaten anything at all today.
I take a bit of the apple and chew slowly. It has no taste. The apple fills the void in my stomach and I climb back up on the bed. The light from the hall continues to glow, but I have no idea if it’s day or night. I pull up my knees again and rest my cheek on my legs.
I know I’m drifting when my body slumps to the left and I wake up, catching myself before I fall. I shuffle closer into the corner of the bed and resume my position.
I dream of poisoned red apples and Sandra’s smiling face. It’s all meshed together and when I wake up I know something is wrong. The cold wall at my back and the hard bed under me reminds me I’m in a cell. But it’s the lack of lighting that starts my heart pumping fast. A drumming sounds in my ears and I’m not sure if it’s the hum of my body or an actual sound.
“They took Alex away from me.”
Fear grips me by the throat as my eyes dart around my small cell. My back pushes harder against the wall. The fabric of the blanket under me is fisted in my hand.
“They took you away from me.”
Where is he? I’m searching the dark space, but I can’t figure out where his voice is coming from over the pounding of my heart. My breath comes in short spurts and the buzzing noise grows louder.
“They are going to hang you.”
A whimper escapes my lips and I swear I hear him laugh.
Calm down. Calm down. My heart slams against my chest painfully and I rub the spot trying to calm it down.
“What do you want?” I manage to squeeze out.
“It’s like a broken love story. Me and you. I find my wife, only my brother has slept with her and now my father removes her from my grasp and sends her to the gallows.” He sounds so pleased with his words. Like it’s poetic somehow and not twisted with lies and dipped in madness.
I release the blanket as my temperature spikes, sending a cold sweat down my back.
“What do you want?” I ask again and the blood doesn’t thrash so hard in my ears now and the humming sound has lessened but it’s still there.
“Can’t a broken man come see his wife?” His voice is to the right of me and sounds distant. I try to think and know I hadn’t heard the door open. So at least he isn’t in here with me.
I use that nugget of information to calm myself. To tell my body it’s okay. He can’t hurt me. He can’t get to me.
“I’m not your wife.” I feel a bit braver now as my body starts to slow down.
“We really could have been something.” He doesn’t seem to hear me as he continues to speak. His laughter is shrill now. “Can you imagine Lucas’s face when he sees us walking down the aisle. It really would be justice. Take him down off his high horse. He always thought he was better than me.” He grows silent and I’m listening, trying to hear movement. But there is nothing.
“You’re not very talkative, are you?”
I stay still and listen. I still can’t figure out where he is exactly and there is that voice in the back of my head that tells me he’s in my cell and at any second he will pounce.
A bang rips a squeal from me, but it doesn’t stop at one.
“Answer me.” The bangs continue and I shuffle back deeper into the bed as Henry beats the door in a frenzy.
“Go away.” My roar bounces off my cell but stops his onslaught on the door.
His laughter feels like it’s everywhere. I want to cover my ears with my hands and bury my head in my knees until this ends.
More silence follows and I’m really starting to think he has left.
“A boy broke into our gardens once and got lost in the maze. I found him of course because I did design it.” He is still here and he sounds so proud.
“It took me a long time to build it, nurture it and help it grow.” He shifts. “That takes patience, Ella. Real patience.”
I hate how he uses my name like he knows me or has a connection with me.
“So this boy who I found in my maze wasn’t scared of me. We would have both been around sixteen. He thought he was better than me, just like Lucas does. Both of course turned out to be very wrong.” Henry sounds far away and dread curls in the pit of my stomach. I don’t want to know about his twisted maze or his crazy thoughts.
“He had no idea how creative I was.” He trails off and I just want him to leave.
“How long do you think you can go without sleep?” I glance at the door, I can’t see anything but now I’m wondering if that is what’s happening here. Will I be tortured by Henry’s voice keeping me awake?
“The boy started to hallucinate after only three nights of keeping him awake. Honestly Ella, between me and you, I had such fun. He was a hoot. He was trying to climb the walls, shouting about sheep.”
Tears burn my eyes. He’s sick.
“Maybe his father was a farmer? Who knows, but he kept me entertained for hours.”
“Is that what you are going to do to me?” I sound so small and I hate it, but I feel exhausted with him down here. My brain can’t process all he is saying, I don’t think I would be as strong as the boy and last three nights listening to Henry.
He laughs. “Hardly. This structure isn’t designed for sleep deprivation. But don’t worry. I will come visit each night.”
I bury my head back into my knees. Maybe I am still dreaming.
“I wish I could sit beside you.”
My heart slams against my chest. My head rises.
“I heard you move.” He sounds like he’s smiling.
“Maybe I could get a long stick and poke you.” He’s laughing again and I see how unstable he is.
I clench my fists and keep quiet.
“You are just like a dog. Lucas’s pet. Lucas actually had a dog. It always barked at me and I hated it. Woof woof, yip yip. Annoying creature.” He moves again and exhales loudly.
“He didn’t last long with me. You should have seen Lucas’s face when he saw his dog dead. He was crying and yapping just like the dog.” He’s laughing again.
I feel sick. “You’re a monster, Henry. You need to be locked away. Not me.” I’m off the bed shouting at him. “Go away.”
Over the beating of my heart, I listen to the silence. I hate it.
“I only came to keep you company.” His words are low and he sounds like I’ve actually hurt his feelings. I hold in a sob of exhaustion; I want to tell him to leave.
“I only came to check on my wife.” He sounds like he’s moving and for one perfect moment I think he is finally bored with me and has decided to leave.
Everything in me freezes as I hear the click of the door. I’m shaking my head while stepping back.
No. No.
The creak of the door warns me of
his arrival.
I don’t stop moving until my back hits the wall.
“I can hear you breathing so fast.”
I hold in a cry as he steps into the cell.
TO BE CONTINUED
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DARK
A debt is owed, and he takes me as payment.
HER
When my father runs up too much debt, I pay the price.
I’ve been sold.
Sold to a man who vows to break me.
A man who keeps his face hidden from me, even as his dark desires awaken mine.
It wasn’t my debt to pay, but he took me, anyway.
He said he would have his payment, even if it cost me my soul.
HIM
I run the club.
If someone steps out of line, they either work for me or disappear.
But when a local man runs up too much debt, I take his daughter as payment.
She is mine to do with as I please.
I will have her completely; mind, body, and soul.
Nothing would please me more than breaking her.
I didn’t think I would feel for her.
I didn’t think I could love again.
Now I might be the one who ends up broken.
For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey, Sylvia Day, Meredith Wild and W. Winters.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084M5BJW8
Contents
EPILOGUE
ELLA
CHAPTER ONE
BEFORE
ELLA
CHAPTER TWO
LUCAS
CHAPTER THREE
ELLA
CHAPTER FOUR
LUCAS
CHAPTER FIVE
ELLA
CHAPTER SIX
LUCAS
CHAPTER SEVEN
ELLA
CHAPTER EIGHT
LUCAS
CHAPTER NINE
ELLA
CHAPTER TEN
LUCAS
CHAPTER ELEVEN